NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions lor reply »n coining i»»oe te be no«iT«d.not lat«r than UOXDAX night.. J. J.— Your questions respecting, saienite h«Yfi been, referred to Profesepr Park, Director of" Otago School .ot liinj&k, who replies that aelenite, tfie cryßttllised form of the hydwrted sulphate of lime, hs« no more* value "-than gypsum^ wMch i\ the maEßive form- of the same- mineral. Gypsum is extensively used a? a glace " for -poceetam,' in' Ac.m»x»Qfaoture'of glass, and for -agriculfural purposes ai & top dressing for grass lands. The coarsest varieties are burnt into plaster of Paris. The commercial value of the raw mineral varies from 16s to 35s per ton, according to quality. Selenite crystals are often found in ~kh« clays associated with the brown ooal measures of Otago. but cannot be taken by themselves to indicate the presenoe of coal. On the other hand, the presence of clays containing selenite is an indication of the occurrence of the ccal measures in the neighbourhood. Interested, Island Block.— The drawing for prizes in the art union, in connection with the Athletic Carnival taies place on Tues-, day, 31st inst. The result will doubtless be advertised in the following day's paper. A. M. 8., Maungawena.— Some of the planets can "be seen occasionally during the daytime when the climatic conditions are favourable. It is said that stars can be seen from the shaft at a mine when they Rre not discernible by the naked eye from abovo ground, but as the shafts of mines are- invariably covered' by the poppet head, etc.. the opportunity for doing co must bs infrequent. Stamp a«ks which issue of stamp was brought into use when the penny postage was, inaugurated in Ifew -Zealend. The ""• peony universal, printed- in London, was th« only stamp " issued. AH other pen-ny stamps in circulation at the time were not -used. SoascMßKß, Southland, aeks if it is necessary for a person wishing to commence a labour agency to obtain, a license, and if co from whom does he obtain it It is necessary to dbtain. a license, and .application must be made to the of Factories in the district in which you are situated. Testimonials as to capability must be forthcoming, *nd also one from the jnagistrate as to character, etc. The fee lor a license is lffls. Inqthrt.b asks when the new section of the railway from Lawrence to Boulder Creek will be taken over by the Railway Denaxtment. "as I iinderstand it is about, finished." This lin-e is still under construction, and will not be completed for some months yet No .proposal has as' yet been made to hand over section referred to to working railways. Spade Guinea. — Spade guineas under George 111 are' rather common. A guinea in mint condition was quoted in one of the latest catalogues at 275. A spade guinea in -a good state of preservation would therefore be worth from 20s to "245. J. X., Glenkenich. — Persons absut to marry must first give notice of such intension to the Registrar, for w&ich a fee of 2s folia charged. A certificate is then issued by the Registrar, for which £1 is charged. Without this certificate the marriage ceremony oaranot be performed. Manriages must be solemnised with open doors, bstween 8 in the morning and. 4 in the afternoon, .in the presence of two or mor« witnesses -Persons must have . re- . «ided in the district three clear days immediately preceding the application for certificate. Persons objecting' to be married by a clergyman can. be married in a 'Registrar's office by a Registrar, in which case an extra fee of £1 must Is paid, and 2s fid for copy of marriage register. . Per- I sons wishing to be married out of, the { district in which they live can only do j bo by residing in the district in which ] they wish to be married for three clear days, «md obtaining certificate from the j Registrar in that district; and persons | living in different districts must either

both reside for three clear days in the same district or ehe obtain two certificates, one from the Registrar of each of the districts in which they reside. In the case of persons under 21 years, consent of parents or guardians must 'be obtained in writing. If there is no person within the " colony having authority by law to give coifsen<t to the marriage, a decl-a.ra.tion to that effect must be made; certificates in such oases can only issue • 14 days after date of notice, and the fee for such delayed certificate is 5s (insiead of £1 as in the case of immediate certificates). Any person making false afrhmation, declaration, o-. representation before a Registrar is guilty cf a misdemer.cur. The fee paid to a clergyman depends upon the position of the bridegroom, and cannot -be exactly stated ; it is usually, a matter for arrangement. r Prospector.— The ©ample of minesal you sent for identification was submitted to Professor Park, who reported that it consisted of minute rusty-coloured crystals of quartz, , such as may often be found encrusting tfae drusy cavities of rocks. The crystals are iOO small to possess any commerciftl value. A. E. F. wants to know where the song, a verse of which is given below, can be obtained. Perhaps some of our readers may be able to supply the information asked for. _ The verse is as follows : — "I love' bonny Scotland and England's blest shore, But love- the iair land of the Maori still more : With its' flax and -its fern -and -its rare cabbage tree, • - . . Blue shirts and sunbonnets — New Zealand for me." ■ Interested. — The particulars supplied by - you are not .definite enough. If you sent in (not for publication) the name of the company or society with which the insurance is effected, and the nature of the policy, a reply could be given that might be useful to you. State whether the insurance is payable on death or on attaining a certain age. If the policy has only been in force for three years its surrender value will not be very great, and no advance would be made on it above the surrender value. Subscriber writes: — (1) Can you tell me of something that would rot out bluegum or macrocarpa stumps? The trees were felled two years *go, but the bluegums are still growing. Would bluestpne or sulphate of copper be of any use? (2) I have just pulled down a sod-house which has been ,standing nearly 40 years, and I would like to know if "anything would grow in the soda or mould from this house. The ground 1 is well cultivated, and is lft deep. (3) What preparation would , it want, if any? * Wculd artificial manures be beneficial? (41 What is the length of life of the hedge plant named " Eleagnus japonica ? (1) It is doubtful wtiether bluestone or sulphate of copper would prove efficacious. Salt is said to have been sometimes used with success. The best way probably would be to bore a hole* (two, some distance apart, if the stump. is large) some time in the autumn to a depth of IBln, put in 2oz saltpetre, fill with water, and plug up :lose. In the following spring fill up the hole with kerosene, and agmizt close np Some time later'renew the kerosene and light, when the stump will slowly smoulder away. (2) Sods from' sod-house would only be pf use for mixing with garden coif as tbere will be no substance in the sods. (3) Artificial manure should be. used - with the sods-, nothing- being .bettes. thnn well-rotted' cow dung or stable manure preferably the former. Failing either of these being obtainable, some of the fertilisers on the market should be used, a mixture of blood and bone 3 fc-eing the best. (4) Eleagpus japonica lasts for years. If soil and situation are suitable there is no reason why this plant should not live for half a century or more. Platixum.— (l) In the event of a twin-screw steamer . losing the service of one of her screws, with the remaining cue she could make headway, and, provided the rudder was not damaged or the machinery injured, ivould eventually •■••each her destination. Under these circumstances a. 10knot steamer would make about seven knots an hour through the water in ordinary weather. As to the contention that the remaining screw would only keep ihe steamer turning round and round, this could only happen until such time as the steamer gathered headway. Once she commenced to move at any speed through the water the rudder would counterbalance the screw, and the vessel would f-teer as usual. A vessel cannot steer until sbe gets a certain amount of headway, and on the screw being first started the vesf»eL would cant her head away from the screw until the action of the rudder took- effect. (2> Without the use of accented letters it is impossible to Rive an adequate idea of ho~v to pronounce French name. The nearest that can be given for D'Arcy is dar-si. Even here the "a" should bear an accent mark thus .. over it. S. S., Macraes. — Two sixes and three threes at cribbage would count 18 — Fifteen 10, 6 for pairs of threes, and two foi pair of sixes. J. E L., Invercargill.— Mr H. M. Davey. consulting engineer, replies- — In this easa I oon<=ulted with Mr . M'Lxn tock marine engineer, who replies- as t< the valves in a single acting circulating pump. We were noi sure as to exactly what you did want to know by the expression steam. &o we took it to mean the steam which enters the condenser to be condensed , and the pump, th-e pump that supplies the water " necessary for this condensation. If so. the valves would be (1) a foot valve. (2) a bucket valve. (3) a head valve. Hie foot valve not being necessary if the wcter whs high enough to flow into the pump without being lifted. There would also be se-i cocks if the enaine were afloat. (2) The pittin? of t^e boiler phel! at about the water level i 3 chiefly caused by such as aoids entering fith the feed water. The oxygen in the air also forms oxide of iron, or rust. A. A., Alexandra — Mr H M. Davey. consulting engineer, 91a Princes street, replies: — You are not quite correctly informed re the power of rams. If indeed they could do as you were told, we shou'd not need any other means of getting power at all. A ram working under 10 fee". pressure and lifting 100 feet high wou"d lift about say, or-e twenty-fourth (la-re sr less) of the water it took to work it. according to efficiency and size and lenath of uptake, etc.. 10 to one being a lather hard pull. You Fee. if there were no friction oi -anything of the kind, it coulJ not lift more than ens-.enth, seeing t hut the lift is ID times the fall, but in work-in-g conditions the quantity raised is fax las, in this oa?e le=s than half. Now you ask, with, I suppose, the same fall of 10 feet (but this you do not exactly say), what water would be required to lilt a given quantity 30, 40 or 50 feet?

Well, roughly, about six, eight, or 10| times | ■that quantity, depending on so many con- , ditions, some of which are indicated above. ! You will see that the efficiency is higher | when there is a more reasonable rat o be- j 'tween fall and lift. With you 10 f-e-st fall, } to lift- 30 feet would be called 3 to 1, to lift 40 feet would be called 4 to 1. and to lift 50 feet would bs called 5 to 1, and the 100 feet you first asked, about would j J b© called .10 to 1 The largest ram in the | list of Messrs Blake, of Accring'ton, Lanc3, England, lifting 3 to 1. delivers 250,000 gallons per 24 hours; lifting 4 to 1. 200,000 gallons; 5 to 1, 150.000; atnd 10 to 1. 65,000 gallons per 24 hours. The sad largest ram will apparently lift up to 20 to 1 aaid lift 25,000 gallons. Now, as from 1000 to 1200 gallons per minute are needed to work this ram, you*- will see exactly what it will and will not do. As the amount you wish to lift is about 540,000 gallons per day. it would not quite be lifted the lowest height by even two of the largest rams listed. But the makers ' might possibly be making larger rams ; I do not know. The price is not of much use till you know exactly what yo\i Tequire. but the price in England of the largest rams would be £305 each, and I may say that if you use more than one they would each need a_ separate power piDe; they could pump into the one uptake, which would in' your case be about , nine- inches in diameter. The ram is No. 15. With -regard to 'the second question. I put it before Mr Mas-shall, who is an exttert in such things, being a manufacturing chemist in a* large way here," and he very kindly replied that" you should 'have asked for flowers of sulphur, and _ with regard to what you could do with the crude lot you have, as there are 'several forms of such, if you posted a saniole of it; he .would tell you if you could use it . up, and if so how it would T»e best to do so. Therefore, if you desire to know, post a sample to the editor. " Aha."— (l) The private wealth of New Zealand in 1906 — the latest year for which the calculation has been made— was estimated at £3(H,654,000. (2) The amount at the credit of -depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank on the 31st December last was £12,159,294. During the March quarter of this year, ending with the last day of the financial year, the deposits exceeded the withdrawals by £20,505. The amount at the credit of the depositors on the 31st March was swelled, of course, by the accrued interest for the quarter, which can only be estimated, in the absence of official figures.